


It's okay to ask for help

by as1898



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Caring Eddie Diaz, Fluff, Gen, Hurt Evan "Buck" Buckley, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Vomiting, Worried Eddie Diaz
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:35:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23583949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/as1898/pseuds/as1898
Summary: It had taken Buck a long time to wrap his head around the fact that he would probably always have some pain in his leg from the ladder truck crushing it. Due to all the PT he’d had and the fact that he was young and strong when it happened; most days the pain is so minimal he barely notices and goes about his life like normal. Other days, especially after a rough shift, Buck feels the weight of the truck crushing it all over again. So far Buck had only had a few of these extremely bad days and when he did have them, he was lucky enough that it was following a long shift, meaning he had the next few days off work to recover. Unfortunately for Buck, his luck was about to change.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 173





	1. Chapter 1

It had taken Buck a long time to wrap his head around the fact that he would probably always have some pain in his leg from the ladder truck crushing it. Due to all the PT he’d had and the fact that he was young and strong when it happened; most days the pain is so minimal he barely notices and goes about his life like normal. Other days, especially after a rough shift, Buck feels the weight of the truck crushing it all over again. So far Buck had only had a few of these extremely bad days and when he did have them, he was lucky enough that it was following a long shift, meaning he had the next few days off work to recover. Unfortunately for Buck, his luck was about to change.

**********************

“Hey Buck!” Eddie called as he got out of his truck. Buck turned around smiling and waited for the man to catch up with him so they could walk into the station together.

“Morning Eddie, how’s Christopher?” Buck asked.

“He’s good, very excited for movie night tonight, he misses you.”

“I saw him two days ago,” Buck laughed, “but I miss him too. I have to stop by my apartment after shift to pick up a few things, then I’ll order some pizzas for us and head over.”

“Sounds good.” Eddie said before turning to great Hen and the rest of the team. Unfortunately, before anyone could really settle in, the alarm blared and the shift began with a bang.

It was an exhausting shift. The team barely had any time to rest between call after call. And while a few of the calls were simple, most involved at least required a decent amount of physical exertion which left the team gassed. The team had just gotten back from a 3 car pile up when the bells rang again.

“Ugh I really thought we were going to be done.” Chimney groaned, “Only had an hour left in shift, I was hoping LA could go emergency free for that long.”

“No rest for the wicked.” Bobby said, clapping Chim on the shoulder. “Come on guys, let’s move out!”

As they drove to the scene, a house fire, Buck tried to prepare himself for this (hopefully) last call. As much as he hated to admit it, his leg had started to bother him a few calls back, and while it wasn’t too bad yet, nothing a few painkillers wouldn’t fix, he didn’t want it to get any worse. His team didn’t know that he still sometimes had problems with his leg, and he didn’t want them to find out.

Arriving at the scene, they immediately set about doing their jobs, Hen and Chim prepping to treat victims coming out, and Eddie and Buck heading into the burning building to find any survivors. They had only been in the house a few minutes when Bobby’s voice came from their radios.

“Buck, Eddie, time to get out, this place is gonna blow any minute.”

“Copy that Cap” Eddie said, and the two men started to head towards the exit. As they got back down to the ground floor Buck heard the faint sounds of crying coming from the other side of the living room.

“Look!” he yelled, pointing towards the corner. There, huddled in a ball was a little boy. Buck immediately ran over and picked him up, then rejoined Eddie as they headed for the door. Just as they exited the house, the fire flashed over and they were thrown a few feet. Buck instinctively used himself to shield the boy, but in doing so he ended up landing wrong on his bad leg. For a moment he couldn’t move, the pain exploding through his body. Slowly it faded to a dull roar and Buck was finally able to gather his bearings. Hen and Chim were already looking over the boy he had successfully gotten out of the house, and Eddie was standing with his hand on his knees, catching his breath. “You good?” Buck asked, careful to keep his voice steady. “Yeah, I’m good,” Eddie replied, “you?” “All good.” Buck lied, reaching out to grab the hand Eddie had extended to help him to his feet. Putting weight on his leg hurt like hell but he managed to not let that show as he went to go help his team finish with the call. 

As soon as they got back to the station, Buck struggled out of the truck and quickly walked to the locker room, doing his best not to limp. He grabbed a few of the painkillers in his bag, hoping they would kick in quickly, and then headed to the showers to quickly wash away all the dirt and sweat from the day. After toweling off and changing into fresh clothes, he sat on the bench and put his head in his hands, waiting for the rest of the team to be finished so he could say goodbye before heading home.

Buck was startled out of his daze by a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey man, you okay?” Eddie asked, forehead crinkling in worry.

Buck forced a smile, “Yeah I’m fine, just tired.”

“Let’s head out then, it’s movie night!” Eddie said, turning to pick up his bag and grab his key.

Buck’s smile faded as he remembered he had promised Eddie and Chris they would have a movie night tonight. He wasn’t sure he would be able to hide his pain from Eddie for that long. In the meantime, Buck struggled to his feet, hoping Eddie wouldn’t notice the look of pain that crossed his face, and followed Eddie out to the parking lot.

“See you at my house in a bit?” Eddie asked.

“Yeah, just need to pick up a few things from my house and then I’ll be over. I’ll text you when I’m on my way so you have a heads up.” Buck replied.

“Sounds good.” Eddie called, waving out his window as he pulled out. As soon as he was out of sight, Buck let his mask fall and sunk down into his seat with a groan. The painkillers had done little for his pain, if anything it was just getting worse and Buck had to bite back tears with every movement he made. Residing himself to the hours of pain to come, he quickly drove home.

The stairs up to his apartment were pure hell, every step bringing another wave of fiery pain through his leg. As he started to gather up his things for the movie night (Chris wanted to have a pj party) his stomach started rolling from the pain he was in. Buck moved into the bathroom as quickly as he could manage and only just got his head over the toilet before losing everything he had eaten that day. After the assault ended, Buck leaned back against the wall, bad leg outstretched and wiped his mouth. Groaning Buck pulled his phone from his pocket and called Eddie, dreading what he was going to have to do.

“Bucky!” Christopher answered.

“Hey Superman, where’s your dad?” Buck asked, hoping his voice would stay steady.

“He’s right here, he saw you were calling and he said I could answer it if I wanted. Does this mean you’re going to be here soon?” Chris asked in his normally bubbly way.

“Can you put your dad on Buddy? I need to talk to him real quick.” Buck asked, avoiding Chris’s question.

“Sure!” he said, “Daddy Buck wants to talk to you.” Buck heard, along with some rustling as the phone changed hands.

“Hey Buck, what’s up?” Eddie asked.

“Hey Eddie” Buck hesitated “I hate to do this but I don’t think I’m going to make it tonight, I’m sorry”

“What happened, is everything okay?” Eddie asked, concerned. Buck sounded a little off to him, and just an hour ago he had told him he would be over after stopping at his apartment.

“Uh yeah everything’s fine. I just am really tired from shift and I’m not feeling the best.” Buck said.

“What’s wrong? You seemed okay at work.”

“It’s nothing, really, I just wanted to let you know I wasn’t going to make it. Tell Chris I’m sorry, and that we’ll do it another night.” Buck said.

“Are you sure? You sound a little off. Do you need anything? I can have Chris stay with Abuela for the night and I can come bring you anything you need.” Eddie pushed.

“No really, I’m okay.” Buck cleared his voice as it started to crack. “Have a nice night, I’ll see you tomorrow for shift.”

“Alright,” Eddie said hesitantly, “Goodnight Buck, get some sleep, and feel better.”

“Thanks man, see you tomorrow.”

Buck moaned as soon as he hung up and once again leaned his head over the porcelain throne. He was in for a rough night, and could only hope that the pain will fade enough before shift tomorrow. Flushing the toilet, Buck moved to rinse out his mouth then struggled into the kitchen to grab some ice. Ice in hand Buck started to move towards the couch, knowing there was no way he was going to make it up to his bed tonight. Settling himself in a comfortable position with his leg elevated, he sighed from the slight relief the ice gave him and shut his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Buck woke to the sound of someone pounding on his door. He groaned and tried to ignore them, hoping they would give up and go away. The knocking started again followed by the sound of Eddie’s voice.

“Buck open up! Come on man I’m worried about you, please let me in.”

Buck tried to get up to let the man in but as soon as he put weight on his leg it gave out and Buck went down will a yell of pain. The knocking stopped and was replaced by the sound of a keys, then suddenly the lock clicked and the door burst open and Eddie came running in.

“Buck!” he yelled, before sinking to his knees next to the fallen man, hands frantically looking for the source of Buck’s pain. “What happened, what’s wrong.”

“Nothing.” Buck croaked out “I’m fine Eddie, go home.”

“That’s bullshit!” Eddie exclaimed. “You’re obviously not okay, let me help you.”

Buck sighed but didn’t reply.

“Come on Buck, what hurts?” Eddie asked softly.

“My—my leg.” Buck finally ground out. Eddie stilled at that.

“Did you hurt it again on shift?” he asked, slightly panicked, “Do we need to go the ER?”

“No, I’ll be fine, this just happens. It’ll be okay, I just need to ice and rest it.”

“Buck, what do you mean this just happens?” Eddie asked slowly.

Buck sighed. “The doctors told me that I will probably never fully recover from the ladder truck.” Buck admitted. “That I’ll always have some chronic pain and flair ups.”

“Buck why didn’t you tell us?”

“There’s nothing anyone can do, nothing really makes it better but ice, rest, and time. Which is what I was doing before you came barging in here.”

“I was worried about you man.” Eddie confessed, “You didn’t sound like yourself on the phone and I knew something had to be wrong for you to cancel movie night. So I dropped Chris off with Abuela and came to check on you.” Buck started to say something but Eddie cut him off. “And I’m glad I did. You don’t have to do this alone. What do you say we get you back on the couch and then I’ll go get you some fresh ice and anything else you need.”

“Eddie… you don’t have to do this.”

“Hey look at me,” Eddie waited until Buck’s eyes met his own. “I want to do this. And I don’t want you to have to do this alone, okay?”

“Okay”

“Then let’s get you up off this hard floor.” With that Eddie reached his arms down to grab Buck’s hands started to pull him up. Buck did his best to help him but as soon as the foot of his bad leg touched the floor, he hissed in pain and grabbed Eddie’s hand tighter.

“Hey it’s okay, let me do all the work.” Eddie grabbed Buck further under his arms and pulled him up and onto the couch in one practiced motion. Then he helped Buck lay down and made sure he was comfortable as best he could. Walking over to the sink, Eddie dumped out the bag of mostly melted ice that Buck had been using, got some fresh, and then went back over to Buck.

“How’s that?” He asked, placing the ice on Buck’s leg.

“Good, thanks man.”

“Anything else you need? Do you have painkillers you can take?”

“Upstairs.” Buck replied, “I took some advil at the station but it didn’t do much. I have some stronger ones next to my bed. Should have taken them when it started to get bad but I don’t like taking them at work, makes me sleepy, and by the time I got here I couldn’t get up the stairs.”  
Eddie just sighed and nodded, quickly running up to Buck’s room, then returning with the meds. He handed them to Buck, along with a glass of water. Buck swallowed them, drained the glass, and handed it back to Eddie.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” Eddie asked, still hovering above Buck.

“No, thanks though, nothing else can be done but wait for it to stop. Thanks for coming, you should head back to Chris now.” Buck said quietly.

“Chris is fine, he’ll be asleep by now anyway. I’m not leaving.” Eddie said, walking over to Buck’s head. “Sit up for a sec.” Eddie helped support Buck’s head as he sat, Buck looking at him in confusion the whole time. Eddie sat down and laid Buck’s head down on his lap. “I’m staying down her in case you need anything during the night. Don’t want you getting up for anything, and this way I’ll know it if you try.” Again, Buck looked like he wanted to say something but Eddie stopped him before he could. “Just go to sleep Buck, we will be talking about all this hidden injury crap when you’re feeling better but for now, just sleep.”

“Fine. Goodnight Eddie.”

“Goodnight Buck” Eddie leaned back into the couch and got comfortable, occasionally running his fingers through Buck’s hair just like he would with Chris. Just as Eddie thought Buck had fallen asleep, he heard a quiet _thank you_ whispered. Eddie smiled in the dark, then closed his own eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy! Sorry it took so long to update, school has been busy. Probably will be one more chapter after this so stay tuned!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is my first fanfic I'm posting, though not the first I've written so let me know what you think! This is not beta'd so sorry for any mistakes, I'm also an engineering major so writing isn't my strong suit but I needed to get some of these story ideas out of my brain. 
> 
> Just another few notes, I am still in school, though my classes are online due to COVID-19 so I will do my best to update regularly but depending on my work load that might not always happen. I already have the next chapter started, I'm not sure how many this will end up having, probably only 2-3 but I guess we will see where the story takes me lol. Also I have a few other 9-1-1 stories started, mostly focusing on Buck hurt / Eddie comfort so stay tuned for those!


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